I can't believe she is 8 months old....

Our little girl is a little fighter these first 8 months. For her 8 month birthday she got GREAT news, she graduated from physical therapy for her neck!! That is right, no collar! She still is a little weak but has made great improvements over the last few weeks. We will miss Ms Kim, however we know that with her hypothyroidism and low tone we might have to have her services again (let's hope not).
She also saw the endocrinologist last week. After waiting 3 hours, we saw Dr Bastian and he was so helpful. He spent a good 45 minutes with me (now at least I knew why we waited 3 hours) explaining all her tests and examining her. He did show concern in her small size (14lbs 2 oz, 24.5in long) but also said at this time there isn't too much we can do. He was thrilled to see her TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) level was within normal range, 1.4. She started at 8.9! He still has further testing to do to determine the specific type of hypoT she has but definitely leaning towards autoimmune hypoT. This is mostly due to my history with autoimmune disorders and my new diagnosis of hypoT. She goes back in July to continue with her testing and developmental evaluations.
What is Cohen doing these days besides being a Bathing Beauty?

• sleeping from 7:30-6! (she might fuss around 2 for her paci, but otherwise we cant complain)
• sitting up for hours it seems like
• spinning in circles on her tummy
• finally eating 1 jar of babyfood at one sitting
• she LOVES mum-mums and puffs
• makes a mess with a regular cup
• attempting a sippy cup
• LOVES her papa, she reaches for him no matter who is holding her
• she started Big Girl school with Kinson and the first week got SPOILED ROTTEN, we had to talk to them about that!

She really has come a long way in a short period of time. We couldn't be more thankful for all of the support that we have had. We just look at her and are amazed!

Can we say HOT!!!

It went from warm to unbearable in just a few days! So what do we do to stay cool? Get in the water of course! Last weekend, we went to the Crawford's celebrate Cole and Laurie Claire's birthdays. We always have so much fun with them. Cohen stayed with the Birthday boy the entire time! She loved the water. Kinson on the other hand, just walks and does whatever everyone else in NOT doing! He had nothing to do with all the water stuff or slides. He was more interested in the food. Typical.



Birthday Boy!!

This is another example of the heat. Kinson played in the garage last weekend for a little bit as we were rearranging to accomodate the new gym. He never stops moving. After about an hour, this is what he looked like. And it was only 9:30 in the morning!!! He was filthy, dirty, and just plain BOY, but he was loving every second of it.

Lately, I have gotten up on Saturday mornings to go to nearby garage sales. I have really enjoyed getting up early and going by myself, even if I dont find much. A few weeks back, the kids got up extra early so I didnt go, but instead we decided to pack up and head to the park to beat the heat. On the way, I saw some signs and so we made a detour so I could do a quick drive by. I usually only am looking for kids stuff so I can quickly tell whether or not we need to stop. Well off to the side they had a push car. Yes, Kinson has about 5 push cars but this one had a push handle and I was really thinking Cohen could use it one day. So I jumped out and the lady really didnt know what she was selling and just said make an offer. $5 later it was mine and we were headed to the park.

We had the wagon in the truck for him and Cohen to ride but of course he decided that morning he was not going to share. Again, typical. So we got out the new car and he LOVEd it, we pushed him around the whole park while Cohen rode in the wagon. Even if he never gets on it again, $5 was worth just that one morning of heading off a typical Kinson tantrum!


He lost his balance, but you can bet he wasn't about to drop those cookies!!

The next morning we were in Sam's and saw the same push car for $49.99!!!

Hot Summer Days....

Do you notice that Kinson is putting that alligator on top of Cohen's head? Heaven forbid, Cohen touch him because he will start SCREAMING "CoCo, no pinching, no hitting!"

Happy Early Father's Day!

If there are 2 things that Bear is fully committed to, it is family and working out. So it came as a complete surprise to me after his many years in the fitness industry that he wanted to get a "home gym." His reason: to be able to spend more time at home with the kids and be able to fit working out in whenever it was convenient with their schedules. But I quickly came to realize that this was not going to be some girly equipment that I might could use or a treadmill or something. He was talking weight bench, bars, plate weights, cables, ....the whole gym in our garage!

Well we started to price pieces thinking we could slowly build this gym of his up, well wow it was going to be awhile before he was going to get his gym. Well this is where my bargain shopping habits come in to play. I love, love, love a bargain and will search one down before I will buy something full price. I religiously search Craigslist multiple times a day and what do you know, a gym almost identical to what he was looking at came up for sale. I emailed the guy and Bear set up a time to meet him and 2 hours later it was his. The best part---It was selling for what we would have paid for just the plate weights!!! So last Sunday, Bear and Kinson spent some quality father/son time in the garage putting together parts of the gym. Kinson was in heaven, he had to dress like Bear, hold wrenches and do what Bear was doing, and just as Bear would do, when I would open the door to check on them Kinson would turn around and say "Mama, shut the door!"

Like I said before, this is not a girly gym so we will continue to have a membership at the YMCA so not too sure where we saved the money at yet!!